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Issue 10
Spring 2000

5,000 miles of new cycle trails

SUSTRANS (sustainable transport) is a charity working on practical projects to encourage people to walk and cycle more, so as to reduce motor traffic and its adverse effects.

The flagship project for Sustrans is the National Cycle Network. The project is supported by a £43.5m grant from the Millenium Comm-ission. It will open in June with 5000 miles of trails.

It involves over 400 local authorities, as well as businesses, landowners, environmental bodies and others. The network will carry an estimated 100 million cycle trips and 40 million walking trips every year.

Over a third of the network will be entirely traffic-free, built along old railway lines, canal towpaths, forestry tracks, riversides and urban spaces and in many cases these sections will be ideal for pushchairs as well as for cyclists and pedestrians. The rest will follow existing roads; town roads may be traffic calmed or incorporate cycle lanes, quiet minor roads will be used for country sections and there will be special crossings over busy roads where needed. With quiet lanes and traffic free paths the National Cycle Network is ideal for daytrips, longer leisure rides or commuting.

The National Cycle Network will open with a nationwide celebration called Ride The Net during midsummer week in June. The talk at the Oddfellows on Tuesday 14th March went into more details about this grand opening.

The new Celtic Trail cycle way was officially opened at a ceremony near Treherbert in October 1999. This section forms the High Level Celtic Cycle Trail from Pontypridd to Neath. Also the magnificent Hengoed Viaduct is now open and in use, providing a superb link across the River Rhymney to Hengoed Railway Station. At some point during the year COG hope to be cycling some of this new Trail.

The cycle ride on Sunday 23rd July is being registered as a Ride the Net event. Ride the Net is the Sustrans a whole series of events over the summer celebrating the opening of the National Cycle Network

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